Napoleon's Mercenaries: Foreign Units in the French Army under the
Consulate and Empire

Finding information on the numerous French cavalry and infantry regiments
is fairly simple to do. Many books have been written on them, their
exploits, and their uniforms. Yet little can be found on the foreign
units that were an integral part of the French army. By January 1812,
over 100,000 foreigners were serving in the French army and consisted
of 13% of its total infantry. Try finding information on Croatians
or the Illyrians. It is not easy. Usually it can only be found in
the most specialized work. For a long time a gap has existed, but now
Napoleon’s Mercenaries fills this gap.

Guy Dempsey examines over 100 different foreign units that served in
the French Army. To qualify to be included in the book, the unit had
to be recruited from locations that were not part of France, paid for
by the French government, and fought under a French flag. These qualifications
excluded many of the more colorful units that fought with the French
during the era, because most were part of a national contingent that
were provided as part of a treaty obligation – such as the regiments
from Bavaria, Westphalia, or the Confederation of the Rhine.

Mr. Dempsey was quite ambitious in this project. Over 100 units are
listed, including the Artillerie Septinsulaire, BataillonValaisan, Guides Catalans, LégionIrlandaise,
RégimentAlbanais, and Pionniers Blancs. Each
unit is listed alphabetically and for most he provides the following:

Date of Creation

Circumstances of Creation (Why it was created.)

Composition (Its various organization throughout its existence.)

Commanders (Short biographies of the unit commanders.)

Operational History (Where and when it served; and its performance
on campaign.)

Final Transformation (What happened to it in the end.)

Uniforms (Brief descriptions of the uniform worn.)

Standards (Type of flag carried.)

Some of the units, such as the Chasseurs-a-Cheval Aragonais,
have only a half page entry, but many of the more famous ones have numerous
pages. The entry for the Régiment de Prusse has nine pages,
while there are over 30 pages for the Swiss infantry regiments. Mr.
Dempsey brings the human element into the descriptions by quoting extensively
from memoirs of officers and men who served in the units.

The author has done a masterful job of compiling the data from numerous
sources. He cites his sources and when he has no information on a certain
area, he states so. Napoleon’s Mercenaries is not only a great
reference book, but also a great read. It is packed with useful information,
but also with fascinating trivia. The reader will find that once he
starts thumbing through it, he will have a hard time putting it down.